After yesterday’s post, I heard from some other authors. They said things like this:
@novaren @barrylyga YES. Everything you said, Barry.
— Malinda Lo (@malindalo) November 24, 2014
Other folks chimed in, as well, with similar sentiments, making me realize that in my confessional zeal, I neglected to mention something good in all of this.
Namely, that, for all the chaos and upheaval in publishing, the fact remains that it is still a field in which any random day can possibly bring a staggering life- and career-changing moment. Your book can be plucked from obscurity to be mentioned on a TV program. A hot actor can be glimpsed with a copy tucked under his arm. A movie producer can happen upon your book and decide that this will be her next big project. Suzanne Collins wrote other books before The Hunger Games, y’know.
These things don’t always happen. They don’t happen to and for everyone. And they don’t happen often. But they do happen. And they can be game-changers.
I have a book coming out in the summer. And another coming out after that. And I am confident that I will sell more after that one. The apocalypse isn’t here quite yet, and while I can write, I will write.
So, I’m not going anywhere. Every book is a new opportunity, and I’m gonna take as many of them as I possibly can.
Your article mentions two publishing modes – trade publishing and self publishing. You don’t mention recent artist successes from Kickstarter and Wattpad – places that are crowdsourced and fan funded. Do you think those only work for the highly differentiated?
And what exactly does highly differentiated mean, in terms of YA? Tides are changing in terms of what people want. Readers are asking for more diversity. Narrative non-fiction is finally on the curriculum. A growing number of adults are reading YA. Fan fiction is huge. STEM is everywhere. If you want to make a lifelong career out of writing, maybe the way to differentiate yourself is to take these factors into consideration and not “write what you know” but instead write what is commercially viable?